A Soul's Anatomy
by ALittleMouse
Summary: Before Maka was born, Kami met someone that she considered would be a better partner for her than Spirit. Before Medusa forced Eruka and Free to join her in releasing the Kishin, she convinced someone else to do so. And before Medusa convinced that person to join her, her younger sister Shaula set about freeing both the bane and the pleasure of her sister's existence.
1. Chapter 1

**I have added OC's that you will meet within this first chapter and the rest of the story. Later on I will include Kingdom Hearts creatures, not the actual characters, which is why this isn't a real crossover. Well... Yeah, I might include a few Kingdom Hearts characters now that I think about it. You'll see later in the story. ****Also some characters from Soul Eater Not! Will definitely be in the story.**

**This story starts in the manga in Chapter 3: The New Student and Soul Observation, sometime before meeting Crona.**

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**"Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future." **  
**― Oscar Wilde**

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**Chapter 1**

**This is in the Past**

**(*The three events that took place occurred at different times, places,**

**and with three different people. Their actions and decisions effect events that happen at a later date.*)**

On the outskirts of a town four figures could be seen sneaking cautiously around an abandoned building. Under the cover of night, these four figures who could easily be identified as men, went to the back of the building. The youngest of the four, around twenty, took out a match and lit it against the pile of broken bricks that had accumulated as the building started to crumble. The others flinched at the scraping sound it made that seemed so loud in the darkness. The lit match created enough light by which the men were able to see, if barely. It illuminated the youngest man's nervous expression, and he turned to voice a question to his friends in a slightly shaky voice:

"Are you guys sure this is a good idea? I mean, what if she comes after us?"

"She's not coming after us," snapped the oldest angrily, though he couldn't hide his slight apprehension, "because she won't survive the fire, now do it."

"I don't know about this Karl(1)," said another. "Didja see what she did to them Triplet Brothers(2)?"

"Yeah," agreed a third. "The Triplet Brothers were the toughest kishin eggs on these streets, and she destroyed them all in one night."

Karl grabbed the one that just finished speaking roughly by the collar with both hands and forced him up against the side of the building. He was seething with rage, all traces of anxiousness completely gone.

"She took everything from me! Money, souls, my gang! She's going to pay!" He let Franko slide to the ground and snatched the match from Marco. With his other hand he dug into his pocket and pulled out several large sticks of dynamite that were tied together by a chord. Grinning, Karl lit the flares, then threw it high above him through an open window. Almost immediately after, he turned tail and ran, not even bothering to warn his henchmen. But they got the message quick and ran after him. Ten seconds later, there was a loud boom as the dynamite exploded. The entire side of the building blew out, sending large and small pieces of brick and rubble flying through the air. A fairly large chunk of concrete hit Marco square in the back making him cry out in pain and fall. His comrades didn't bother to help. Almost immediately afterward another explosion shook the ground, and what little glass there was in the windows shattered and covered the ground. Powerful flames burst through the windows and quickly started to consume the abandoned warehouse.

Karl stood on a boulder so that he could get a better view of the fire, then laughed as he basked in the glow of his revenge.

_'Stupid bitch thought she could get the best of me,'_ he thought smugly. _'That'll show her not to mess with me.'_

Suddenly, his henchmen jumped when a piercing screech cut through the sound of crackling flames. The building was starting to crumble in on itself when something burst through a top window and landed somewhere in the branches of a tree. Whatever it was, it was alive and its clothes had caught fire. It fell to the ground and frantically tried to put the flames out. The light from the burning building was bright enough to enable Karl to see who it was that had emerged from the building. He grinned evilly when he saw who it was.

"Pity Sira. I thought the fire would have surely killed you." He hopped off the boulder and walked victoriously over to her, his goons following nervously close behind. He was sure of himself as he faced her and wasn't afraid. She had just came out of a burning building and was injured. What had he to fear?

Sira glared up at him with such wrath that he suddenly regretted setting the building on fire. Her clothes were singed and almost completely covered in soot. On her left arm was a burn that went from her shoulder down to her elbow, and another on the back of her leg. She didn't wear any shoes and her hair had also gotten burnt in the fire so that it was shorter than before. The dark soot made it hard to see what its real color was, but it seemed to be a brownish-gold. Her eyes were fierce, piercing and glowing with anger and hate. They were the color of the flames that had burned her, a mixture of red and orange with specks of gold. The pupil was slitted and vertical like a cat's, and they burned with acrimony.

Karl stood his ground even as his henchmen started to back away when Sira started to stand. Grunting with the effort, she had to use her right hand to push herself up off the ground. She didn't bother to look at her burn, but it was already starting to heal. Karl swiftly reached in his back pocket and took out a revolver that he held level at Sira's chest. At the sight of it she let out a snarl, showing white fangs, before rushing at him. He pulled the trigger and the shot was fired. Sira barely managed to dodge to the side, and the bullet whizzed past her and struck the tree behind her. She didn't give him a chance to shoot again and leaped, clearing the remaining ten feet in a second and bawling him over with her on top. She growled and snarled like an animal as she bared her fangs and attempted to sink them into his neck.

To Karl, suddenly his plan of killing her and getting his revenge seemed like a terrible idea. Panic and terror started to set in and he had to throw up his arm to keep her back, and he screamed in agony when she bit into his arm. She let go and blood spurted from the bite wound. With a furious snarl, she darted in and tore out his throat in one quick slash of her teeth. She jumped back away from his flailing body to avoid the spray of blood that gushed from his torn artery. He spit up blood and let out a gurgling scream, holding his throat with hands that were quickly covered in the red liquid. Then he went limp as more and more blood continued to pour from his throat, covering the upper part of his body with it and soaking it. Once he had stopped twitching his soul emerged from his body, floating just under a few feet above it. Sira ignored the kishin egg and turned her attention to the other three. They turned and ran for their lives, scrambling and tripping over themselves in terror.

Instead of pursuing them, Sira went back to Karl's body and kicked it angrily, hard enough to flip him over on his stomach. She walked briskly over to a nearby tree and leaned on it, taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself. After a few minutes she let out a growl and punched the tree to let out her last reserves of anger. It left a deep indention in the bark and the sides even splintered. The arm she used to punch with was the same one that had been burned. The skin had almost completely healed until only the pinkish-white skin was left.

She turned and looked irritatingly at the building that was enveloped in flames. It was hardly recognizable now that the fire had burned and destroyed everything. What used to be her home was now only a large pile of burning rubble. But she was more upset about almost being killed than losing her home. She had to admit that she hated it, but at least she had somewhere to go at the end of the day.

Truthfully she didn't think Karl would be so bold in seeking her out and trying to kill her. She had always known him to be scared of people stronger than him and acted like a coward. But she had cheated him and stole hundreds of human souls that he had been collecting over the years, and had even killed most of his gang to get to it. She supposed that it was only natural that he would be pushed to his limit and finally cross the line. He was, or used to be, a kishin egg after all. It was his nature to want revenge.

Sira stared into the fire, completely calm now. The burn on her arm had healed completely, leaving smooth skin as before.

She stiffened and whirled around, nostrils flaring and a growl in her throat as she scented someone that sent her blood boiling. A witch's chuckle resounded through the area. Sira spotted her easily a few meters away. She was leaning against a tree with her arms crossed and smirking as if the whole ordeal she just witnessed was vaguely amusing.

"You can relax. I just came here to talk." The mere sound of her voice fueled Sira's already angry mood. In an attempt to kill the witch she charged at her, intent on taking her head off. The witch ducked, barely managing to dodge Sira's claws that cut through the air. A few strands of her hair was taken off in the process. Pin-wheeling on her foot, Sira aimed a kick that the witch had to jump to avoid. The kick pulverized the tree, splintering it and going deeply within the tree, leaving a deep indention. Her leg was unhurt. She growled, angered that she had missed and turned to face the witch, who managed a backflip and landed effortlessly on her two feet.

"I'm impressed. You almost managed to kill me in that short amount of time."

"You won't be so lucky on the next strike," Sira said angrily, flexing her claws in preparation of another attack. "What did you come here for?"

The witch smiled. "My name is Medusa Gorgon. I came here to offer you a sort of job."

"Excuse me? I'm not someone's fucking errand boy!"

"I never said you were. It was merely an offering."

"I don't need a witch's charity!" She charged again. This time Medusa fought back. Dark purple arrows shot from her outstretched hands straight towards Sira at high speed. Sira was not surprised that the witch finally used her powers, but couldn't get out of the way in time. She stretched her hand out towards the vectors. The vectors collided with a large white field that suddenly appeared in front of her and the vectors dissipated upon contact.

"You just asked for a death wish," Sira growled, lowering her hands.

Medusa smirked. "I don't doubt that you can kill me. I came here for a reason. I want to make a proposition, a kind deal."

"I don't make deals with witches."

"Hear me out. My overall goal here is to release the kishin, source of all madness in the world."

Now Sira was openly shocked. "Are you fucking crazy? I should kill you now!"

"You could, but you wouldn't get to hear what I have to say. I won't go into the details of why I want the kishin awakened, for reasons you won't understand. However, I will say this. It will be of great benefit to you if you join me."

"Why would you want my help? I don't give a damn about you or your goal, so you can just leave me the hell alone!"

Medusa smiled. "You are a Sentrus, a very powerful being. You are also intelligent, more so than most. I admire that, and I happen to need someone with your unique abilities to aid me."

"I'm not swayed by compliments like others. None of this benefits me in any way except becoming a lunatic."

"During the kishin's release process I will be working on an anti-madness device that repels the kishin's madness wavelength. Once created, I will willingly allow you to take part in using it."

"I'm not stupid enough to fall into such an easy trap. How do I know that you won't turn me crazy yourself?"

"You're obviously stronger than me. If you believe I may betray you, you can merely kill me. But you won't turn out to become ineffectual just yet. Not for awhile at least."

"And if I refuse?"

"I won't force you. There are others I can find who I can force into submission. Either way, I will release the kishin and madness will spread over the world. In joining me however, you will be shielded from the madness so that it will not corrupt you. What do you say?"

Sira scowled. She wanted to say no. She wanted to kill the witch and rid the world of her once and for all. She wanted to feel the witch's magical power become her own as she ate her soul. But Sira had a feeling that Medusa would not be so easy to kill like past witches she had fought. Something was not quite right with that witch. Her wants and goals included interfering and messing with unnatural things, things that would be better left alone. It wasn't Medusa herself that scared her, but what she was trying to achieve. And if Medusa did somehow manage to release the kishin, then the world would be surrounded by madness, leaving her completely susceptible to the madness. That scared her, and she felt a trickle of fear at the thought of it.

"Oh, and by the way, whether or not you decide that you are with me or against me, I will release the kishin. With or without your help."

Sira looked up at the witch, meeting her eyes in anger. 'Crazy bitch.' "Fine. I'll join you."

Medusa smirked. "Good."

**||A.S.A.||**

"El Loco's Night Out" was the most successful and profitable night club in all of Los Angeles. Whether or not it was because of the great service it produced, the type of music it played, or maybe even the way the building itself was constructed, everyone agreed that the best part of going there was to be entertained by the assistant manager, Efforis. No one knew his last name, but then again no one thought to question him about it either.

He certainly was a sight for sore eyes. Nearly six feet tall, he had white hair that everyone assumed he had died because he was just coming out of his twenties. It reached the back of his neck and shortened as it got towards the front. His eyes were a peculiar color, a kind of dark violet mixed with a light blue. His excuse or this would be expensive contacts, and he made it sound so truthful that everyone believed him. His teeth were also a bit more sharp, longer and whiter than a normal person's. He had a charming smile and a smooth voice, and everyone agreed that his attitude towards his job and customers was great, and good for business. He didn't have an ounce of fat on him, but he wasn't exactly an athlete. But anyone could see that he had some muscle on him and was very strong. He also had the habit of wooing the ladies, which made up most of the clientele in the night club.

Not only was he assistant manager, but he also served food and drinks. Not all the time, but most nights he would be among the crowd as a waiter. On this particular night, this is what Efforis was doing. The night club had more people than usual. Dressed in the club uniform, which consisted of a black short-sleeved shirt with three neon blue stripes on the sleeves and sides, and matching black pants, Efforis moved through the crowd of dancing people smoothly without getting bumped or pushed, with a tray of crystal clear glasses balanced on one hand. He set it on the bar counter and took a seat on the stool. On the other side of the counter clearing glasses and serving customers was Efforis's friend and manager, Alexander.

"The place is pretty full tonight," Efforis started, leaning on the counter on his elbows. "Know why?"

Alexander answered while passing a glass of bear to a customer, "A famous singer is coming here to sing at ten o' clock tonight, and from what I've heard she's pretty good." Alexander Rodriguez was a man in his late thirties and of obvious Philippine decent, with short light-brown hair and eyes. He was wearing the club uniform, except with his it had a pin on it with the word "manager" on it in cursive lettering.

"No wonder they're so excited." Efforis gestured to the crowd that was dancing to the music and smiled. "If I didn't work here, I'd come too."

"Instead of sitting here shirking you responsibilities, take these sandwiches around. The chef spent hours making them and I don't want them to spoil."

"It would be an honor, sir." Efforis took the tray from Alexander, who carefully passed it over to him from over the counter. Efforis then went back towards the crowd with a tray of good-looking sandwiches in hand.

To him, the night was no different than any other. He went around serving the sandwiches, convincing people to eat them even if they weren't hungry. He also received a few rips from some takers, mostly from some attractive women. He made his way to the back of the club, where he heard loud laughing over the music. He had never heard this specific person's voice before, so he went to the investigate. On the couch with his arms around two pretty girls around his own age, was an eighteen year-old with red hair and blue eyes, wearing a white long-sleeved shirt and jeans. By the way he was acting and the three empty glasses of wine on the table, Efforis made the assumption that this guy was drunk. He was thinking about whether or not to step in and remove the guy, or leave him to his business. He made up his mind when the newcomer started to make-out with the girl next to him, a blonde.

He stopped a passing waiter and handed him the try, who was a close acquaintance of Efforis, and so received it gladly. Efforis then made his way over to the man who as still kissing the blonde girl.

"Excuse me sir," Efforis interrupted. The man looked at him with a silly grin.

"Yeah? Whazzit?" he slurred cheerfully.

Efforis raised an eyebrow. _'He must really be drunk.'_ "I'm going to have to ask you to leave if you don't stop sir."

A confused look came over the man's face all of a sudden. "Hey. Wait a second. How old are you?"

"How old are _you_?"

"Eighteen."

"Twenty-one."

"Well, you don't have to call me sir. Instead, how 'bout you call me, um… Spirit! Yeah, that's right!" He smiled brightly and extended his hand. "Scythe weapon at your service!"

_'Scythe weapon?' _Efforis thought, staring at Spirit's hand. He didn't take it.

"Oh Spirit," giggled the brunette on his left, "you're so funny." Spirit grinned and leaned in to kiss her, but Efforis stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Why don't you come with me Spirit. My name is Efforis by the way."

"Where're we goin'?" Efforis helped Spirit to stand up while the two girls pouted. They clung to him but Efforis managed to get them to wait on the couch and allow himself to lead Spirit to the front door through the crowd. Just as he was about to put his hand on the door knob to open it, it flew open and almost hit him and Spirit straight in the face. Standing there, angry and close to tears, was a girl the same age as Spirit. She had ashy-blonde hair and green eyes that glistened because of the tears she was holding back. Spirit seemed to recognize her because his eyes went wide and he smiled, opening his arms in an accepting hug.

"Kami! What a surprise to see you he-" Kami slapped him hard mid-sentence. He stumbled back and touched his red cheek, shocked.

"You cheating bastard," Kami seethed, the tears now coming forth and threatening to spill from her eyes. "I turn my back for one minute to report our mission to Lord Death and you go and make out with some random hussy!"

"B-But Kami, I-"

"Shut up! Just shut up! I'm tired of your stupid excuses! All you ever did was cheat on me and time after time I let it slide because I had hope that you would realize it was wrong and stop!" Now the tears were streaming down her cheeks. People nearby started to take notice of the growing drama and stopped what they were doing to see what was happening.

"Calm down Kami," Spirit urged as he helped himself off the floor. He reached out to grab her but she took a step back and slapped his hands away.

"Don't you dare touch me!"

"I'll make it up to you Kami, I promise-"

"You can make it up to me by going to hell!" She turned around and left, slamming the door behind her. Spirit looked shocked and hurt and looked like he was about to cry. Efforis had on a pokerface, but on the inside he was feeling a sort of amusement at seeing Spirit get slapped and yelled at by his girlfriend. He turned to the crowd of onlookers and started shooing them away.

"Alright people, movie's over, leave the poor guy alone! Go on, shoo!" Little by little they went away, some casting glances back over their shoulders in case anything else were to happen, but soon the crowd had dispersed and everything was back to normal.

_'Almost everything.'_ Efforis walked over to Spirit, who still stood there staring at the door that Kami had left through.

"Excuse me, Spirit? Are you... do you want me to give you a ride home?" He didn't respond at first. A few seconds passed between them when he finally answered,

"Yeah." It was so quiet Efforis could barely hear it over the music, but he nodded and led Spirit gently by the arm out of the club. Outside traffic was as loud as ever. Efforis took out some keys from his pocket and unlocked a black car parked on the curb. He helped Spirit to get in before getting in the driver's seat himself and started the car before joining traffic and driving down the street.

"Where to?"

"Just keep straight." Spirit sounded sullen and gloomy. When Efforis gave him a sideways glance he saw Spirit looked down at the dashboard and seemed to be ashamed.

Efforis sighed internally as he racked his brain for something to say.

"So... I'm assuming that she is your girlfriend?"

"She was."

"You did cheat on her. It isn't her fault for getting angry."

"I know. Turn here." Efforis turned the corner. Down this street he started to see less traffic. "I know that this whole thing is my fault. I'm sorry for making you see that and go through all this trouble."

"It's fine. I've had to deal with situations like this once or twice in my career. So where do you come from?"

Then Spirit told him where he was born, his parents and childhood. On most occasions he mentioned Kami and the good times they had, and his friend that always gave him "the creeps."

"His name is Franken Stein. When I first met him, I took to calling him Frank or Franklin for about a week, but he didn't seem to like that, so I just called him by his first or last name."

"'Franken Stein'. That's a peculiar name."

"Yeah, I guess it is. But he's real smart; probably going to be a doctor one day. Oh, you can stop here."

"Are you sure?" Efforis had pulled up to an old antique shop that he remembered was owned by a senile old woman. The street they were on was practically empty, with one or two cars and no people walking around.

Spirit nodded and got out of the car. He was a little sober by now, but walked unsteadily as if he wasn't sure of himself. He turned to Efforis and gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. Thanks for the help."

"No problem." Efforis waved goodbye through the window and pulled of. When he looked at his rear-view mirror, he saw Spirit tracing something with his finger on the surface of the glass of the shop, before he turned the corner and was out of sight.

Efforis had only been down this particular road once or twice, so he was not very knowledgeable about how to get back to the club, so he spent around ten minutes driving around, trying to find at least one thing that would be familiar. Whether luck would have it or not, he actually did.

He spotted Kami sitting on the sidewalk, her face in her hands as she cried. She looked up at the approach of Efforis's car and hastily tried to wipe the tears away. Efforis pulled up a few feet away from her and leaned out the open window to speak to her.

"Excuse me ma'am, are you alright?"

"No, I am _not_ alright," Kami sniffled angrily. "I should have known that bastard would do that to me! He's done it before. I can't believe I was so stupid to believe that he wouldn't..." She burst into tears again, covering her face with her hands to hide them, though she might as well not have put in the effort since her tears seeped past her fingers and wet her hands.

As he watched her, for a split second Efforis felt the desire to turn the car around and drive away as fast as he could. He felt extremely uncomfortable at seeing the woman cry, but as much as he wanted to leave, he knew what the right thing to do was.

He took the keys out of the ignition and tucked them away in his pocket, effectually turning off the car. Then he got out of the car, walked over to Kami's crying figure, sat beside her, and wrapped his arms around her. Surprisingly she put her own arms around him and cried into his chest. Efforis was at a loss at what to do or say to get her to cheer up, so he didn't speak and stroked her hair softly. He remembered seeing a father do that to his daughter one time. Kami didn't seem to mind this and actually started to cry less until she only sniffled every few seconds. Efforis thought it was a little weird that Kami would find comfort in a stranger, but he had to admit that Spirit hurt her bad.

"May I ask you a question?" he asked quietly. Kami nodded but didn't move away, in fact pressing herself closer against him. "I don't mean to pry into your personal life, but I ask out of curiosity, so you don't have to answer. If Spirit has affairs with other woman, why do you continue to be his girlfriend?" Kami started shaking and Efforis was afraid he had made her cry again, but felt relief and confusion when he realized that she was laughing.

"I'm- I'm sorry," she chuckled as she sat up so that she was sitting next to him. She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt. "It's just that no one's ever asked me that before."

"Really?" She nodded and took a deep shaky breath, then let it out steadily.

"I'm still his girlfriend because... because I believe that sooner or later he'll open his eyes and get some help. At least, that's what I used to believe."

"Has he done it before?"

"He's probably done it way before I even met him. I just thought that if he met the right one, he wouldn't have a reason to do it anymore. Turns out I was wrong."

"What will you do now?"

"I don't know. What do you think I should do?"

"I'm not comfortable expressing my opinion to something like this." She smiled.

"I'm giving you permission-"

"Well I think the smart thing to do here is leave him high and dry." She burst out laughing and Efforis smiled, partly proud of the fact this his joke was funny, and because it made her laugh. "You know, you have a pretty smile."

"Spirit mentioned that to me the first time we met," Kami giggled. When she got under control she continued, "But when you say it, I actually believe I do."

He grinned. "How I see it is how I call it." They shared a light laugh together. Efforis sat back, looking up at the night sky and the stars. He realized that he couldn't see them from underneath the streetlamps and lights that littered every street corner. He felt a pang of homesickness and looked down as if doing so would make the feeling go away.

"I never did tell you my name. It's Kami, Kami Albarn." He looked at her and saw that she was taking a pen out of her back pocket. He didn't resist at all when she took his hand gently and started writing on it. "This is my cell. You can call me if you want."

"Thank you," he said graciously, quietly. In turn, he gently took the pen from her and wrote on her own hand. "This is mine. And my name is Efforis."

"Efforis?" she tried out the name, then smiled. "I like it."

"Do you need a ride home?" He stood up and offered a hand to help her stand, which she took. She shook her head.

"No, I'll stay here. I have somewhere to be anyway."

"Alright then." He took out his keys and started the car up. Upon getting into it he leaned out the window and said, "It was a pleasure to meet you Kami. Have a good night."

"I will, thanks." He backed up, turned smoothly, then drove slowly onto the street. In his rearview he saw Kami waving happily.

On the way back to the night club his cell phone rang. When he answered it Alexander sounded annoyed and worried.

_"Where are you man? The fancy singer will be here any minute now!"_

"I'm on my way Alex."

_"Good. So you dropped off that guy, huh?" _Now he was curious and a little amused. _"How was he like?"_

"Okay. Not a bad feloow, but he has a little woman problem. I like his girlfriend though. She's sweet."

_"Oh, got a little action now did we?"_ Efforis laughed.

"Not exactly, but I did manage to get her number."

_"You should go out with her. You seem lonely anyhow."_

"Aren't I too old for her?"

_"Age is but a number man. And besides, it's only two or so years apart, nothing drastic."_

"Alright, I guess I can give it a try."

_"Good boy. Now hurry up and get your ass over here, the party's about to start."_

**||A.S.A.||**

Witch prison was the most secure prison in the world, and held prisoners that couldn't otherwise be killed. Exceptions were for those that were put there simply because the witch that put them there was being cruel, because a lot of the time prisoners weren't even fed or checked on on a daily bases, sometimes days at a time, something not at all. The prison itself was created by the spacial witch Mabaa to house in powerful enemies of witches. Since the day it was built centuries ago, no one has ever gotten out, only in. But for the first time ever a prisoner would escape, and seemingly without any help.

The jailbreak was made during the middle of the night, so it caught quite a few of the guards off guard. It was completely unexpected and happened almost without warning.

One of the guards was going on his daily rounds, patrolling the length of the corridor back and forth. At his side was a long steel spear that looked menacing and extremely effective against an opponent. He never loosened his grip on it even for a second, especially when he walked past the prison cells. Most of the prisoners went crazy from being locked up 24/7, and the guard had to put up with their going practically insane every time they saw him. Some would start screaming bloody murder, others would curse non-stop until spittle flew from their mouths. He'd even have some throw themselves at the bars to get at him, mouth foaming and eyes blazing. The guard would reassure himself that they could never escape, that the bars would hold no matter what because they were reinforced with magic, but it didn't stop him from wielding his spear at the prisoners as he walked past.

But there was one prisoner that made him feel more uncomfortable than any other prisoner he had otherwise met. Prisoner 27. This prisoner was handcuffed and chained by his neck and ankles. The chains were short and connected to the wall. It only gave the prisoner a few feet to move away from the wall but he never strained against it or even attempted to escape. He was never given any food or water so it was a wonder how he survived. He always sat cross-legged on the floor with his handcuffed hands in his lap and his eyes closed. His hair was long from not being cut, and was charcoal black. His skin was very pale but he wasn't malnourished at all, or skinny. The guard also never saw him open his eyes so he didn't know what color they were. It was almost like he was asleep. He breathed so slowly that at times the guard thought he was dead. There was something not quite right about him, the guard felt it whenever he passed by the cell, but there was no change as the days turned to months and years. But one day, the guard noticed something different.

As he passed by Prison 27's cell the guard caught a small movement at the edge of his vision. He looked down and frowned when he saw a yellow scorpion, no bigger than four inches or so. It was resting near the bars of the cell and didn't move when he walked over to it. It was his first time seeing a scorpion other than in a book, and he thought them even more repulsive in person. He made a move to squash the insect when it suddenly scuttled into the prisoner's cell, who made no movement and seemed not to even acknowledge it at all. The scorpion climbed onto his leg and then stopped on the handcuffs. The prisoner's eyes opened slightly, just enough for the guard to be able to see the dark brown eyes that stared intently, but calmly at the scorpion. It raised its stinger and stabbed his hand. He didn't flinch or even blink an eye. The guard wondered why he didn't respond, or even how a scorpion got into the prison in the first place. And if he thought about it, scorpions weren't even native to the area...

His eyes widened in realization and he shouted to alert the others. At the same moment, the prisoner snapped the handcuffs as if they were paper, then he grabbed the iron collar around his neck and tore it off, then the anklets. The guard watched in surprise, shock, and fear as he stood up and pointed his hands towards the bars. A white fireball materialized in is hand and he hurled it at the bars. There was a white explosion that knocked the guard off his feet and blew most of the bars away. They clattered to the ground, and in the explosion the guard had dropped his spear which lay a few feet away. He quickly got to his feet and snatched it just in time to see the prisoner step over the remains of what used to separate them. He stared at the guard who tried to hold the spear correctly as he shook in fear. He was scared about what this man might do to him. He had never seen or even heard rumors about a person escaping from Witch Prison, and to stand in front of the man doing so terrified him. The orders that he had burned into his memory to say when incidents like this happened fled from his mind, leaving him only to say "Stay back!" in a loud quivering voice when the prisoner took a step forward. The guard didn't notice earlier that the prisoner was barefoot, but then again so were most of them, so he didn't really care.

The prisoner cocked his head slightly at the guard's frantic exclamation. He could hear the sound of other guards' footsteps that had heard the blast and were running to the scene, but he felt there would be no need to rush. It would be easy to escape the prison. He had not merely been sitting idle in the prison cell for years to have not thought of a plan for escape.

While he stood there, the guard hurriedly ran off down the corridor, into on both getting away and alerting the others. The prisoner watched him go but otherwise made no effort to stop him. Instead, he raised his hands toward the far wall, closed his eyes, and concentrated. The magical power that lay dormant inside him started to flow and manifest in the palms of his hands. The energy transformed into the white fireball that he had used earlier, but this time it grew bigger and bigger until it was a little over a foot long in each hand, then the two combined together to create one big ball of magical energy. He opened his eyes and the ball shrunk drastically, before expanding again in a split second and hurling itself from his hands toward the wall. He had to shield his face from the rubble of the ensuing blast. Bricks and cement flew past, and the explosion caused the other prisoners to scream and yell in their cells. When the dust cleared he saw that the fireball had blown a large hole in the wall that was plenty big enough for him to step through, which he did, taking care not to lose his balance when his foot happened on a loose brick that slid downwards.

For the first time in almost sixteen years, he looked up at the sky dotted with white twinkling stars, and he breathed in the fresh air of the night. It tasted almost sweet compared to the stale air that circulated throughout the prison. The grass underneath his feet felt soft, and the realization that he was free came slowly but happily.

He was interrupted from his reveling by the sounds of boots on stone and surprised shouting within the prison. The guards were getting closer.

He turned to the hole and looked up above it. His idea was to scale the wall and get to the roof, then use magic to escape that away. Putting that into action, he crouched then jumped. He willed his claws to grow and used them to get a firm grip on the brick and a sure hold. His jump had taken him a few feet above the hole in the wall just as the guards emerged from it, looking left and right for the escaped prisoner. He knew that they wouldn't think to look on the roof, but nevertheless he wanted to hurry. So he climbed the side of the prison in long strides so that it only took about a minute to reach the top. Once there, he found the person that had helped him escape in the first place.

"Thank you for your help Shaula," he said, bowing respectfully. "Though I did not expect to find you waiting here."

Shaula Gorgon smiled. "It's certainly a pleasure to meet you in the flesh Azeris." Her unique eyes roamed his body. "You look even better in person. But that isn't your true from is it?"

"No, it is not." His clothes were ripped and torn, so Azeris assumed that her compliment was toward his skin and the underlying muscle. He didn't return the compliment, but she didn't mind.

"Medusa shouldn't have thrown you away like that. I can't imagine why she would have done such a thing."

"You are her sister. She has not contacted you in any way?"

"Of course not. She hardly associates herself with Arachne and I, especially after she betrayed Arachne to escape Death. But we give her a wide berth for a reason."

"Why are you here?" He knew she was stalling but he didn't know why.

She smiled and walked towards him. He didn't move even when she stopped a few inches from him. "Medusa was a fool to let you go. You're strong, smart, and not very easy to defeat. Not to mention you're quite a catch." He continued to stare into her eyes as she trailed her hand slowly and lightly up his arm. "I want you to come with me, be my partner. I can't promise to give you what my sister gave you, but I promise that you won't regret it." Her hands found their way to his shoulders and she leaned towards him. He looked away and stepped back to avoid her kiss. She kept her smirk and let her hands drop slowly. "A gentleman, huh?"

He looked at her. "It is not about being polite." He gave her a faint smile. "I hold no attraction to you, however you are much like your sister."

"I'm nothing like her!" Shaula's flirtatious attitude turned aggressive and her face contorted into a scowl. "A slimy serpent is what she is and nothing will ever change that."

"I did not know she had that much of an influence on you."

"She doesn't," she spat. He smiled fully.

"I apologize for bringing her up. Your offer seems flattering enough. It would be a pleasure to work with you."

She shot a look at him, half of surprise and half apprehension. "Really?"

"Yes." At her suspicious gaze he continued, "You helped me escape from the prison. On my own I would not have been able to get out. I owe you a favor." His voice held no hostile countenance and it didn't sound as if he were lying. And Shaula saw no reason why he would, because he had every chance of killing her that he didn't take. And she had the feeling that he wasn't the type of person to commit an act like unprovoked murder. So she smiled and said,

"Come with me then. Before I tell you what I need you to do, we should find you some new clothes to wear."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**1) Karl was a powerful kishin egg. Before he was destroyed by Sira, he practically ruled the city and had hundreds of people, human and otherwise, that he commanded. He also had a large horde of human souls that he kept in a safe, and only he knew the combination. When Sira came along, she agreed to be his right hand man, but she betrayed him and preyed on his henchmen until there were a few left, who were the ones that accompanied him when he tried to kill her. She also broke into the safe and consumed all of the human souls, and pretty soon Karl, who went by the name of Kreer when he turned into a kishin egg, had gone from the top to the very bottom and was finally kicked out of the city. For revenge against Sira, he tried to kill her by burning down the abandoned department that he knew she stayed in, but was killed in the end.**

**2) The Triplet Brothers were three kishin egg brothers that were just under their boss Karl in strength and rank. When Sira turned on him, their souls were the first to be eaten. They were Karl's strongest kishin eggs.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own Soul Eater or its characters. All of the characters ages have increased (Black Star- 15, Tsubaki-16, etc), based off of manga but names such as -san, -kun, -chan are not included.**

* * *

**"We sometimes encounter people, even perfect strangers, who begin to interest us at first sight,**

**somehow suddenly, all at once, before a word has been spoken."  
― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, _Crime and Punishment_**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**Death ****Café ****Truly Has Some Good Coffee**

Death Weapon Meister Academy, otherwise known as the DWMA, or Shibusen, was in a buzz as rumors of a new teacher went around. Normally the students wouldn't be so excited about the arrival of a new teacher since it usually would be to replace a former or retired teacher. However, with the new teacher came the creation of a brand new class, made by Lord Death himself. No one was sure exactly what the class taught or who was going to teach it, but students that had enrolled were eager to find out. Maka and Soul were among the students that signed up.

At present, they were in their regular third period class. The teacher, a stout man probably in his fifties with short gray hair and a beard and mustache, was sketching examples of the current topic on the chalk board. The weapon and meister pair were sitting next to each other on the third row up from the floor. Maka had her textbook open and was writing notes on a piece of paper, while Soul had his head on the book, mouth open and snoring lightly. The teacher noticed this and cleared his throat with an annoyed look, promptly waking Soul from his nap.

"Mr. Evans," he drawled, "if my class bores you so much, perhaps you would be willing to arrange my book collection in alphabetical order. All 800 of them."

"No sir, I'm good!" Soul yawned and sat up. He turned the pages of the textbook tiredly to the page everyone else was on and glanced at Maka, who didn't even stop taking notes to acknowledge him. "Giving me the silent treatment Maka?"

"It's not my fault you got caught sleeping in class. Again."

"You should have woke me. You know I don't get enough sleep at night."

"Of course you don't. You stay up watching that stupid TV show almost every night."

"It's not stupid Maka, and I don't say something every time you take out one of those boring books to read. And what's up with your cooking? It's been going downhill lately."

"If my cooking bothers you so much, why don't you get Blair to do it."

"Fine, I will. Blair has a better body than you anyway-"

"Mr. Evans, meet me after class. And stop talking." Maka couldn't hold back a smug smile. Soul didn't talk or sleep after that, but grumbled a bit under his breath. At the end of class he met the teacher who gave him the task of putting his many books in order. "Come to my study tonight at six o' clock and be prepared to be stacking for a very long time." Soul left class feeling very annoyed while Maka was feeling smug. They exited the classroom together and walked down the hall along with the rest of the students. As usual, Soul followed Maka to her locker where she deposited both of their books and her notes, then they went on their way to lunch. In the cafeteria they met Black Star and Tsubaki. Black Star grinned and gave his customary high-five with Soul. Tsubaki smiled good-naturedly and greeted Maka with a soft hello.

"Have any of you seen Kid yet?" Maka asked. "I haven't seen him at all this morning."

Tsubaki shook her head. "No. I haven't seen Liz or Patty either."

"They're probably out on some mission or something," Black Star put off, quickly getting into the lunch line. He really wasn't one for lines, but Tsubaki had gotten him to stand long enough that he doesn't try to skip, which usually ends up with him getting into a fight when he does.

"Black Star's probably right," Soul fell in step behind his friend with his hands in his pockets. "Besides, Kid can handle himself, he's Lord Death's son. It's not like he's going to be in any danger. You want something Maka?"

"Just a sandwich," Maka replied. She preferred to let Soul use his allowance to buy lunch and her own for food such as breakfast and dinner. While he went to do just that, Maka and Tsubaki sat at an empty table and waited. Maka looked around and spotted Professor Stein near the far side of the lunchroom. To her surprise and curiosity, he was speaking to someone she had never seen before. The stranger had black messy hair and brown eyes with pale skin. He wore a black T-shirt and jeans with black and white sneakers. She thought she could see a small frown on his face, but it was so subtle that she couldn't be sure. Otherwise he seemed to have a nonchalant expression. As if he knew she was staring he suddenly turned and met her gaze. She looked away quickly but could still feel his eyes on her and it made her uncomfortable for some reason. When she looked back up he was finishing his conversation with the Professor and left the cafeteria. Professor Stein looked agitated and he left also in the opposite direction. Maka wondered what that was about when Soul and Black Star sat at the table with two trays of food. They conversed as they usually did, this time without Kid and his weapons. The question of where they were continued to come up but no one could find any explanation other than them being on a mission. Near the end of lunch a message came on over the intercom.

**"All students that have signed up for the new combat class Anirium, please report to room 372. Again, all students that have signed up for the new combat class, please report to room 372."**

"You signed up Maka?" Tsubaki asked in surprise as her friend stood up.

"Yeah, Soul and I. Didn't you?"

Tsubaki nodded, "Black Star and I did."

"I didn't know you were interested in combat classes."

"Well, Black Star sort of talked me into it." Tsubaki looked at her meister sheepishly. He was shoveling down the rest of the food as fast as he could without choking. Soul was doing the same, but Black Star finished first and stood up.

"Come on you guys, let's go!" And without giving them time to catch up the ninja took off across the lunchroom.

"Tsubaki, does Black Star know where room 372 is?"

"I don't think so."

**||A.S.A||**

Getting the job was harder than he originally thought. Shibusen didn't need any new classes or staff, so Azeris had to have a long discussion, with Lord Death in advance, months before he was actually hired. It was no small feat to convince the Shinigami to add an extra class to the already full schedule in Shibusen. Times had to be changed and the duration of each already existing class had to be regulated so that each class had a sufficient amount of time, and time enough that the students could go to lunch and arrive at school no earlier than seven, and leave no later than three. Lord Death's deal with Azeris was that if he could figure out how to insert the new class into the schedule, he would consider allowing it to be created. To do it Azeris had to cut the time used for lunch to balance the amount for each class. This done, he had to submit a resumé and attend an interview, then thoroughly explain to Lord Death what his class would be about and how it would be beneficial to the students.

It was Shaula's own idea to get him to be a teacher. She wanted him to be in a position where he could easily and safely gather information on students and staff without running the risk of being caught or suspected by a higher authority, namely Lord Death or his Death Scythe. His experience in teaching was very limited, but he was sure he would be able to pull it off. But there was still one person who wasn't so sure of him being there.

Dr. Franken Stein was against the making of a new class. He didn't voice it to Lord Death, but Azeris could tell that he didn't approve of him being there. Azeris made sure to keep a watchful eye on him.

On the day he was to begin his class, Stein came to him one last time on account of it and had urged him one final time to drop it. Azeris refused, but welcomed Stein to come and observe any time he wanted. Before he could reply, an announcement over the intercom stated that the new class would be starting, and so Azeris had to leave to meet the students.

He had specifically picked the classroom himself. It didn't have any chairs in it or any place to sit but the floor, and was virtually an empty classroom. It was pretty large though, up to ten feet bigger than a regular classroom. There was a chalkboard with a few pieces of chalk, and here and there were a few windows in which sunlight came through. Otherwise there was really nothing that indicated a normal class, no books, no pencils, no paper, nothing. Azeris entered the classroom and went to the chalkboard where he wrote "Anirium" at the top and underlined it. A few minutes later the first few students came in.

The first one to walk in was a girl with ashy-blonde hair and green eyes, followed by an albino with shark-like teeth. The student's surprise at how empty the classroom was was expected. He waited before all the students were inside before he spoke.

"Good afternoon. My name is Azeris Kercher. I'm not really strict with names so feel free to call me whatever you want. However, I'll need to learn your names, so starting from left to right please say your name and whether you're a meister or a weapon."

When all the students had introduced themselves and stated whether they were meisters or weapons, Maka raised her hand.

"Yes Maka?"

"I thought this was a combat class. Why are we in a classroom?"

"Yeah," spoke up Black Star, "aren't we supposed to be outside or something?"

"We will go outside, but for our first lesson we'll stay in the classroom first."

"So what'll we be doing in here?" Soul asked, sounding slightly bored. Azeris walked over to the chalkboard and pointed to the one word written there.

"This word, Anirium, is the combination of the two latin words 'Animus' and 'Imperium', which means 'Soul Control' when put together. This class is all about learning how to control the soul in different ways, and you can't learn this from a book. However, making the soul do what you want and making it into different shapes is extremely difficult, and sometimes life-threatening. We won't start today because it's only your first day. Tomorrow we'll begin, and whoever cannot handle it will be moved to a different class. No exceptions. And if you are dropped, do not continue to practice the activities that we do here, because the strain of the training can kill you. In fact, it _will_ kill you. Any questions?"

There was an uneasy silence in which a few students glanced around nervously, but no one said anything. "Alright then. Today the first lesson will be about-" He paused suddenly and looked towards the door. The knob turned and it opened. Kid came in, followed by Liz and Patty. "So glad you could join us."

"I'm sorry," Kid said, hands in his pockets, "I had to speak to my father before I came."

"Ah, yes. You're Death the Kid, right? And weapons, Elizabeth and Patricia. I've heard that you two liked to be called Liz and Patty, correct?"

"Yeah," Liz answered, vaguely surprised. "How did you know?"

Azeris only smiled. "My name is Azeris Kercher, but you may call me whatever you like. Your friends can tell you a little what this class is about and the risks."

"Father told me that this class was different from the others," Kid stated as his weapons went to their friends to be brought up to speed. "He also told me that you're the only person that knows enough about souls to even teach this class."

"As of yet I haven't met anyone who knows as much as I do, so I can say, without being vain, that yes, I do know a lot, not just enough."

Kid smirked. "Very interesting. I look forward to learning from you."

"And I, you." Azeris eyed Kid as he joined his friends. Maka, Soul, Black Star, and Tsubaki welcomed him back happily, asking him where he'd been. Azeris cleared his throat to get their attention and turned to the chalkboard when he did. He picked up the chalk and began to write. "You all know the basics of a soul, right? Just a regular human soul. Today we'll go into more detail about it."

**||A.S.A||**

It was three o' clock and the day was over. Azeris had a faint smile as he walked down a street in Death City. His classes had gone by better than he had hoped they would, and now he was going to get a bite to eat. He hadn't had anything to nibble on since that morning but he was picky towards where he wanted to spend his money. Of course, the thought did cross his mind to go home and fix himself some lunch. A perk with becoming a teacher at Shibusen is that you are given free housing, such as an apartment if you don't already have a place to stay. But he wanted to explore, he wanted to meet people and build a good reputation among the citizens of Death City, which would make it easier for him to gather information. But most of all, he wanted something to eat, and home seemed too far away at the moment.

After contemplating which restaurant to go to, he finally chose an eatery named "Death Café". He had seen a decent amount of customers coming and going through its doors; he made his way there and sat at an empty table. He admired the decor and the other customers as he looked around. Since there was a menu already in front of him he picked it up and looked over the choices. As he did so a waitress came up to take his order, notebook ready and all smiles.

"Welcome to Death Café, may I take your order?" She was pretty young, he observed. Probably fourteen or close, but she also seemed familiar. Her name tag said Tsugumi.

"Have I seen you somewhere before?" he asked. She thought about it.

"Well, I'm a student at Shibusen, so maybe you've seen me there."

"Oh, I remember. I saw you walking down the all. I'm the new teacher, Azeris Kercher. It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too." He returned her smile and looked back at the menu.

"I haven't picked anything yet, so you can go on ahead."

"Okay." With a little wave she went on to the next table, giving the same polite smile to her new customers as before. Azeris's eyes scanned the drinks and sandwiches and desserts while his ears involuntarily listening for anything and everything, sorting through the multitude of sounds for no particular reason. He heard the little bell that signaled the front door opening, the expected sound of footsteps, but the unexpected feeling of recognition they made as they walked through the Café, the owner most likely looking around for an empty table. But there weren't any empty tables. All of them were occupied with at least one person. She had to choose.

Azeris didn't know what it was about him that made people want to be around him. He didn't consider himself fun or spontaneous and was actually not one for conversation. But if he thought about it, it was probably his infinitely calm, composed attitude. Maybe it intrigued people that he could be so calm as if nothing could bother him. Maybe that's why she decided to sit at his table.

He didn't look up, didn't say anything when she took a seat across from him. He could feel her gazing straight at him, taking him in and contemplating with her eyes. He held back a smirk and could only imagine what she was feeling; maybe a faint sense of déjà vu, asking herself _'Have I seen him before?'_ He looked up suddenly, making eye contact.

"May I help you?" He tried to sound as innocent as possible without seeming fake. Her surprised expression and the slight rising of the eyebrows proved that he succeeded.

When she spoke her voice was smooth, friendly. She was trying the innocent guise too. "No, not at all. You just seem familiar somehow."

"You've probably seen me in the school, Shibusen. I'm the new teacher Azeris Kercher." He held his hand out for her to shake, and when she did so he noted the firm grip. Her eyes turned piercing and he could almost smell her hostility. In fact, he could; he kept his calm, innocent expression.

"Where are you from?"

"I was born in Switzerland, then moved to the United States when I was nineteen, to Pennsylvania. I'm the first in my family to travel out of the country. Everyone else said that America was the worst place to be, but every country as its flaws, and the U.S. is decent enough." It was a half lie, and Azeris felt proud at how smoothly it went.

"'Azeris' is a unique name in Switzerland?"

"It's uncommon to common depending on where you are. It's like the U.S equivalent of Merideth or Carlisle. Names that you still see every now and then, but are slowly getting out of style. Speaking of names, what's yours?"

"Medusa Gorgon. I'm the school nurse."

"You look like you would be a doctor instead of a nurse." Her level of hostility fell to almost none as before. She had bought his story. It wasn't like she was going to Switzerland to prove him wrong.

"I do have some experience as a real doctor, but Professor Stein is the actual doctor."

"Yes, I had a little chat with him today." He looked back at the menu. "Do you come here often?"

"Maybe a few times a month."

"This is my first time. I'm not sure what to get."

"The Master's Coffee is good." He looked at it.

"It's pretty pricey." She chuckled.

"It's worth every penny." The waitress came over at that moment. The arrival of a new customer didn't faze her in the least, and she smiled. "Are you ready to order sir?"

"Yes. I would like the Master's Coffee, two to go and one to stay." Tsugumi nodded and wrote it down in her notebook.

"Got it. And you Nurse Medusa?"

"The coffee is for her." He turned to her and smiled. "It's on me." Medusa returned the smile and said nothing else. The waitress nodded and went to the kitchen to relay the orders.

"You didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to. You seem like a nice person." He couldn't hold in a chuckle. "You don't have to drink it, but I would be offended if you didn't take it."

"Well it seems as if you haven't given me any other choice.'

"That's where you're wrong. You always have a choice." Tsugumi came and placed the three cups of freshly brewed coffee in the middle of the table. Two were in styro foam and had tops. The one was in a regular coffee cup. Azeris took out a pen and wrote the check provided, then took out some bills and handed it to the girl waitress, smiling.

"Thanks for the service." Her eyes were wide at the amount of money she held in her hands.

"Th-Thank you, sir." He nodded, still smiling, and stood up, taking the to-go cups with him. He left without a backward glance. Tsugumi stood there, still in shock at the tip before she stuffed it into the pocket of her dress and went to serve other customers. Medusa took the cup in her hand. It felt warm. She had a mind to just throw it away or to leave it on the table to grow cold. She looked at the door to make sure Azeris wasn't there, then put the drink to her lips. Good as always.

**||A.S.A||**

Azeris had to balance the cups in one hand while he took out the key to the apartment. He fished it out of his pocket and used it to open the door. He flipped the light-switch though though there was already light coming in from the patio. Everything was fully furnished and that pleased him because he didn't feel like shopping for furniture. He set the food down on the kitchen counter and opened the fridge. That and the cabinets were empty, but he'd go buy groceries later. He surveyed the rooms.

The kitchen had granite counters and mahogany-colored cabinets and drawers. The fridge was smooth and silver and the floor was wooden. Next to the oven was the patio entrance, with a sliding door. Through the blinds he could see a small chair in one corner. He opened the blinds so that light flooded the living room and dining room. The dining room had a small brown table with a chair on each of its four sides. The living room had a gray leather couch and a small TV sitting on a stand. There were two more windows on the wall. Azeris nodded to himself as he sipped the coffee (which he found to be good just as Medusa said). He would buy more things later. In fact, he'd probably go on a shopping spree, there were so many tings he needed to buy. Bringing the coffee with him he walked down the hallway connected to the living room and opened the doors, noting the "new apartment" smell. There were two bedrooms and one bathroom. The bedrooms had their usual bed, dresser, and closet, nothing special.

The second bedroom held a surprise for him that featured Shaula sitting on the edge of his bed and swinging her legs back and forth like a little girl and smiling.

"That is breaking and entering."

"Do you see anything broken?" she said slyly, and reached for his cup. He held it just out of reach.

"Yours is in the kitchen."

"Thank you for thinking about me." He couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not. She slipped off the bed and surveyed the room, though there was really noting to see. "Nice place you have here. Looking for a roommate?"

"No." He walked out of the room and into the living room where he sat on the couch. Shaula followed with an annoyed look on her face.

"What's the matter with you? You've never acted like this before." He took a sip of his coffee.

"Your amorous overtures are starting to get on my nerves. How did you even get in here?" Immediately he knew it was a stupid question. She was a witch, she used magic.

"Fine then," she huffed and sat on the couch next to him, much closer than was necessary. Their arms and legs were pressed against each other, but Azeris only took another swig of his drink. "How did your day go?"

"Fine. Why did you not tell me Medusa worked at the school?"

She smirked and her hand inched up his leg. "I thought it would be a nice surprise. She didn't try to kill you?"

"She did not recognize me."

"That's unlike her. Your transformation magic must really be powerful." Azeris sighed and placed his cup on the floor next to the couch, then turned to Shaula.

"Medusa had many qualities that I admired," he started. His voice was tempting somehow and his eyes held her gaze. She couldn't look away, and for a second she thought his eyes had turned a different color. "She was strong. Smart. Without fear." His hand carefully and slowly touched hers. When she didn't move he continued, leaning closer. "But most of all she was beautiful, stunning." He tilted his head slightly to the left. While his one hand rested on her lower arm, the other came up to gently cup her chin. Her breathing picked up and her eyes never left his. He leaned in closer. "But I have my eye on a certain lady that I am quite fond of." She could feel his breath on her lips. It was warm and tasted like the coffee he drunk. Her heart was beating in her chest. She inched forward, almost closing the gap between their lips.

Suddenly he smiled and sat back, then laughed lightly. "Now used to what you like?"

When Shaula realized what he'd done she stood up in a burst of anger. Her hands glowed wit magical energy, and she looked ready to blast him.

"Come now Shaula, have a sense of humor. Your desire to have me is something I cannot understand. You are a witch, you could easily get any man you please."

Gradually, her hands stopped glowing and an artful smile came over her features and her eyes were piercing. They reminded Azeris of Medusa's. "But I don't want just any man. I want you."

He met her gaze and returned a kind of smile of his own. "You have an experiment to check up on Shaula. It is unwise to leave it waiting so long." Shaula narrowed her eyes but turned away and walked to the front door. She left without a word but slammed the door behind her. Azeris leaned over the side of the arm of the couch and picked up his coffee cup. It had cooled slightly; he could tell as he drank it. Behind him the sunlight continued to stream into the room from the patio. He could feel it warm the back of his head. He noted that Shaula didn't bother to drink the coffee sitting on the counter. _'Maybe you are different from your sister...'_

**||A.S.A||**

Sira's memory was not something to sneeze at. It wasn't photographic, but she could clearly remember events, names, people, and objects without much difficulty. That's why she could easily remember the day Medusa introduced her to Crona. She remembered Medusa calling him from his room to meet her, his terrified expression as he stared up at the tall figure that seemed to tower over him.

"This is your child?" she had asked Medusa. His thin frame didn't impress her at all.

"I've managed to make him into a demon sword. Within his veins runs black blood."

"Really?" Sira didn't believe the witch. No creature held black blood. "What's so special about it? The color?"

Medusa smiled. "You'll see. Soon you'll be going on missions with him to collect souls, then you can see how strong the blood is." Sira gave Medusa side glance, then to Crona. In that moment she knew that he didn't have a mother, at least in the parental point of view. She didn't intend, however, to take Medusa's place as one. She was already wary of children as it was. But Medusa made sure to enforce her word as soon as possible, and on the very next day Sira found herself within a small town alone with the child. That was the day she also met Ragnarok.

As the years went by, Crona's terror gradually changed to a lower level of fear, to anxiety and uneasiness, and finally to what he felt towards Medusa, which slight fear with a subservient attitude. But the fear was noticeably less so towards Sira. She was more relaxed around him than Medusa. She had conversations with him, made and played jokes on him, which would sometimes get him to crack a smile or to blush or stutter in embarrassment. Often times Ragnarok would join in, and she could tell that he enjoyed the joke telling.

Now at sixteen years old, Crona still looked skinny as when he was a kid. They shy and submissive personality he held did not change as he grew, and he had made a habit of gripping his left arm, which annoyed Sira for some reason.

At the same time Azeris had tricked Shaula into thinking he was going to kiss her, Sir was rummaging through the cabinets of the kitchen in search for something to eat. Crona watched her with slightly curious eyes. His right hand clutched his left arm. He jumped in fright when she suddenly slammed the cabinet shut.

"She leaves us here all day with nothing to eat, letting us starve," she growled angrily. "She's probably gorging herself right now, that snake."

"I'm not that hungry," Crona murmured quietly.

**"Always thinking of yourself!"** Ragnarok's voice could be heard. Crona flinched and his sword emerged from his back. His expression to Sira always seemed to stay the same, but Crona could tell that he was irritated and hungry, and for Ragnarok, the two didn't go together. As Crona expected, his weapon immediately started bullying him, poking and prodding, and pricking and pulling until his skin turned red. Crona protested, trying in vain to defend himself from his own blood. Sira paid them no mind but walked into the living room. As she was thinking, she scowled as she regarded the lack of any modern house, except for the basics, like an oven, toilet, fridge, etc. There wasn't even a TV.

_'Damn__,'_ she thought, _'it's like we live in the Dark Ages or something.'_ "Crona, Ragnarok. Let's go."

**"We better be getting something to eat,"** Ragnarok gave Crona one last twist on the cheek, eliciting him to cry out, before he returned to his meister's body. Crona rubbed his red cheek tenderly, tears on the edge of his eyes, but Sira took no notice. Crona usually dealt wit pain in silence anyway.

Sira pointed her hand towards the far wall and a white line shot from her palm to the wall. Upon contact the line expanded against the wall until there was a white circle against the wall, big enough for a person to step through. Sira lowered her hand and walked toward it, while Crona followed closely behind.

"Where are we going?" Crona asked curiously. Sira smiled.

"Let's just say a little havoc never hurt anybody."

The portal had led to a village nearly halfway around the world, so when it was afternoon where they came from, the sun was just beginning to set on the other side of the portal. When Sira and Crona stepped through the portal, she grinned. In the distance was their destination, a fairly medium-sized village that seemed to hold a fairly decent population. When she nodded to the demonswordsman, who summoned Ragnarok as his sword, their intentions were clear. The main reason for the killings were to sate her hunger, but Medusa wanted Ragnarok to feed off of souls anyway.

For once, they had done a clean job. Most of the time the slashes and cuts made by sword and claws would create a mess of blood spurting everywhere, in which case they would get covered in it and it would take hours to wash out the stain. This time though their efforts awarded them only a few drops of blood on their clothes, nearly completely unnoticeable. In total, thirteen people had been killed, eleven consumed by Ragnarok and the remaining two by Sira. It may have sounded like a large number, but mass killings were encouraged to obtain as many souls as possible at one time. A normal amount for the demonsword to eat would be about twenty, but the eleven were only to sate him for the time being.

Sira wanted to get some real food, and though Crona didn't voice his complaints, his growling stomach felt the same. So with Crona following Sira went deeper inside the village, which was bigger than she originally thought. As they walked they received plenty of stares from the villagers, some curious, most unfriendly or suspicious. Crona gripped his arm and his eyes went toward the ground. He could feel his face heating up and he was extremely nervous. As if he was afraid someone would bother him, he increased his pace so as to be closer to Sira, who didn't care about all the attention. She was too busy looking around for a decent eatery to notice.

Suddenly, one particular building caught her eye. It was obviously a tavern. Her eyes glittered and she licked her lips. Medusa had strictly told her that she could not drink alcohol. The rule was established nine years ago wen she had the main component, which was liquor. She had intense mood swings, when she would go to happy, to sad, to angry within a few seconds. When she became angry she usually stayed that way, and would inevitably go into a destructive rage where she would claw, slash, and bite at anything in her path. She nearly killed Crona in this state and Medusa had to fight her to get her sober. After that she had been on a dry spell for years. But now, with Medusa nowhere in sight she was free to indulge herself.

She knew Crona wouldn't be willing to go at all because it was, first and foremost, a bar, and a bar usually contains loud noises and lots of large sweaty smelly people. The demonswordsman would be completely out of his comfort zone, but there was no way Sira was going to pass up this opportunity. So she grabbed Crona by the arm and half led, half dragged him through the door.

As soon as they entered, heads turned and most of them scowled. When the bartender saw them he yelled in broken English for them to leave. Sira replied calmly in a language Crona didn't understand, but the bartender seemed to understand quite clearly. She let go of his arm and reached in her pocket. Using magic, she made a handful of silver coins appear, and presented it to the man. He grinned and took the coins, and she smiled and followed the man to the bar, where he pocketed the money and worked on getting her drink and food.

Thirty minutes later the bar was full of laughing men and women, and in the middle of the merry-making was Sira, a tall glass in her hand, and slightly pink cheeks. She was grinning and laughing from a joke she had finished, and it was obvious she was hopelessly drunk. No one paid any attention to Crona, who after receiving a crudely made sandwich, had stood in the corner and watched the "fun" with increasing anxiety. He wasn't at all used to the noise they were making, but said nothing. He only observed as Sira and the other customers spoke in a language he didn't understand.

Sira took another swig from the glass. As she did so, a man somewhere in his early twenties started flirting with her. Crona had no clue what he was going, but he could tell that Sira didn't like it. At first she took his advances good-heartedly and even flirted back a little. But when he started to want more, such as a kiss would try to touch her more feminine areas, she began to get angry. Crona frowned when the guy continued on insisting to kiss her. Didn't he see that she didn't like him? The demonsword meister felt irritation the more the man pestered Sira, and that irritation grew to anger when he leaned in for another kiss. He heard Ragnarok's dark chuckle in the back of his mind.

**_"What are you waiting for?"_**Crona heard him speak. _**"Standing here won't get rid of**_ **_him."_** Ragnarok became a sword. Crona gripped the handle. No one could see him. _**"Are you just going to watch him take her away? You know what you need to do Crona."** _His words fueled Crona's anger and he raised the sword to waist level. _**"Don't hesitate. Now, kill him!"**_

Sira growled underneath her breath. Even through the haze of her intoxication, she could tell that this man would not stop flirting with her. He had introduced himself and even told her where he lived, but she wasn't interested. Her anger started to rise when he leaned in to kiss her. She was about to kill him herself when something happened that she didn't expect. One moment the man was smiling at her, and the next his face contorted into a grimace of shock and pain. Ragnarok had gone completely through his chest so that the tip nearly touched Sira. The entire bar was in shock at what had happened, and there was utter silence throughout. Sira smiled a lopsided grin as Crona pulled the sword out and allowed the man to fall dead to the floor. Blood was quickly pouring from the stab wound. The men and women snapped out of their shock and began to panic. All of them, even the bartender, ran towards the front door as if their lives depended on it, which it probably did. At first no one could get through because they were all trying to get out at once. Then one managed to squeeze through and the rest of them followed.

Sira looked at Crona and saw that his eyes were light lavender with a dark ring around them instead of the normal dark lavender she was used to seeing. His eyes only became that way when he was angry or killing people for their souls. He stared coldly at the fresh corpse then looked up at Sira with concern.

"Are... Are you okay?"

Sira looked at him in bewilderment at first. She couldn't understand why he was worried about her of all people. Then she smiled and nodded.

"Yes. Thank you for that." He smiled timidly.

"You're welcome." The dead man's soul rose from his body. Crona looked from it to Sira. "Do you want it?"

**"She didn't kill him!" **Ragnarok argued, the lips on the sword moving. **"I get to keep the soul!"**

"Ragnarok can keep it," Sira waved her hand in indifference. Crona nodded and raised the sword so that Ragnarok's mouth opened wide and ate the soul whole. "I think I've had my fun here for now. Let's go." Crona nodded and Ragnarok retreated.

Outside they saw no one in sight. Sira assumed that the dead man's witnesses had told everyone about his death, and instead of driving them out, they decided to run away. That was fine. Fewer problems to deal with.

As most villages are, they are usually built on the edge or surrounded by a forest. This one was on the edge, so in no time the two of them were walking past tall trees and bushes, and the forest was alive with night sounds. Sira suddenly stopped walking. Crona stopped too and looked at her curiously.

"What's the matter?" Crona asked. Sira smiled and started walking again, this time directly towards him.

"I'm fine. I just wanted to thank you again for getting rid of that man."

"Oh. Y-You're welcome." She was starting to get closer now, a bit too close for comfort. Whenever he took a step back she took a step forward. It seemed as if the tree that stopped him from retreating appeared out of nowhere. Sira was still smiling as she put her hands on the tree on either side of his head so that he wouldn't escape, but it didn't look like he had the nerves to do so. His face heated up and turned red as she leaned forward and whispered in his ear, "No one as ever done that for me before. I think I should give you something in return."

He gulped. "W-w-w... W-What - " He yelped in surprise when her tongue came out to flick his earlobe. She chuckled and leaned back.

She cupped his chin, "Hold still." Then she did something that he did not expect. He held his breath and his eyes widened. He felt her lips press softly against his and he stood rigid. His first kiss only lasted a few seconds, but it was enough to get his heart racing. He felt a foreign sensation budding in the pit of his stomach when she pulled away and smiled. He wasn't sure what it was, but it wasn't exactly... bad. In fact, he thought he liked it.

Sira let go of his chin and turned away. All at once she was upset. Crona thought he had done something wrong and opened his mouth to ask what was the matter.

"Go wait over there." She pointed to a spot nearby a copse of berry bushes.

"But -"

"Go!" She raised her voice and Crona hurried to do what she ordered. When he went, Sira stared at the ground and rubbed a hand through her hair, obviously troubled. _'What the hell am I doing?'_


	3. Chapter 3

**I do not own Soul Eater or its characters. All of the characters ages have increased (Black Star- 15, Tsubaki-16, etc), based off of manga.**

* * *

**"Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it." **  
**― L.M. Montgomery, The Story Girl**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**Shadows Everywhere**

Azeris let his eyes travel among the students in the class. There was someone missing, two actually. "Where is Maka and Soul?"

"They went on an extracurricular lesson," Tsubaki spoke up. "I think they must have left earlier this morning."

"Alright then. They'll just have to make up the lesson this weekend."

"Excuse me Professor." Ox raised his hand. "What exactly will we be doing today? We already went over the basics of the soul yesterday."

"And when are we going to go outside?" Black Star asked irritably.

"Black Star, this is not kindergarten, we don't have recess every afternoon," Azeris replied. "However, since I know that you all have the basic skills down and enough knowledge about how the soul works, today we will actually begin the real combat lesson." Black Star started to look excited. "Before we start, let me tell you now. This combat class is about how to fight and defend against the soul itself. If you signed up expecting to be doing physical fighting such as hand-to-hand combat, you're istaken. We will do fighting such as that, but not often. That isn't my specialty." He looked at Black Star. "And before you start saying that this class is a waste of time, just know that controlling the soul is hundreds of times harder than doing any kind of physical activity. It takes skill and time to learn how to master this technique, let alone actually try to use it." He looked at the class overall. "You can drop out any time you want. If you wish to resign I will make sure to put you in another class. If I see signs of anyone straining severely to participate, I will drop you. I cannot be responsible if a student is badly hurt."

"If this class is so dangerous, why is it even allowed?" Kid asked.

"Your father gave me special permission. Now, I can go on and on about the risks this class can pose to you, or we can go ahead and get started." No one spoke. "Good. Now, who here has a strong soul wavelength?" Everyone raised their hands. Azeris smirked. "I meant who here can perform Soul Force?" With disappointment the students dropped their hands except for Black Star, who had a great big grin on his face. Azeris stepped back a few steps so that there was some fair distance between the two. "Okay Black Star, I want you to come at me, as hard as you can."

Black Star looked at him incredulously. "Seriously?"

Azeris nodded. "Come at me. I'm sure I can handle it." The taunt was light but Black Star took it as such.

"You ready for this Professor?" he asked as he readied his soul wavelength. Azeris nodded. Black Star charged, his wavelength appearing around his hand in the form of electricity. He cleared the distance between himself and the teacher in a span of a few seconds. At the last moment he aimed his hand directly at Azeris's chest, certain that it would hit.

"No way," Kilik said in amazement. Tsubaki and the other students were also surprised. Azeris gripped Black Star's hand and had completely stopped his attack. His soul wavelength was still present in his hand but it didn't seem to be doing any damage. Before Black Star could speak, he felt his own wavelength travel from his hand down his arm to his chest, then he was blown back by an invisible force. He landed squarely on his back a feet feet away. He was breathing heavily as he sat up, and his chest hurt with each breath.

"What did you do to him?" Kid said angrily to the teacher.

"It's okay, he's fine," Azeris replied. "What you have just witnessed was called a Wavelength Rebound. When Black Star made contact with me, I used the wavelength of my own soul to act as a barrier so that his attack couldn't enter my body, and so wouldn't hurt me. Then I used my wavelength to push against his so that it traveled back into his body and collided with his soul, which is why he probably feels pain in his chest."

"But that's his own wavelength," Kilik said. "How could it hurt him?"

"A wavelength is meant to project outward. When an unnatural force pushes it back in, it causes a disruption and hurts the soul because the wavelengths are hitting each other."

"I want a rematch!" Black Star yelled as he stood up. There was a fire in his eyes that made Azeris smile.

"You won't be practicing on me. I'm only one person after all, but I like your enthusiasm." He walked towards the chalkboard. Sitting underneath it was a large box that Azeris pushed towards the students. He opened it and took out a device that was shaped like a disc and was two inches thick. It had a single red button on it, a dial with numbers surrounding it, and the whole thing was gray, bu the devices in the box were different colors. "This little machine is called an orcund. It mimics the soul's wavelength in the form of electricity. When you press the button, the electricity travels into your body against your soul wavelength. It'll hurt if you don't block it, but otherwise you'll be okay. Catch." He tossed the orcund to Black Star, who caught it effectively. "The dials on all the orcunds are set on 1, which is the lowest setting. 5 is the highest. Do not touch the dials or turn them. When everyone can block setting 1, we'll go to setting 2. If you're having any difficulties you can ask me and I'll come over to you." With his foot he pushed the box closer to the students. "Take your pick." When everyone had picked the one they wanted he continued. "You'll know that you've succeeded when the device shortens out. Press the button any time you want to begin."

"But how do we block against it?" Kim asked. She had chosen a pink-colored orcund, and her weapon partner Jacqueline had a red one.

"I was getting to that. The two things you need to do this are confidence and strength. Starting with confidence, picture your soul in your mind. Picture it as big and strong as you can, as if it can withstand anything. Keep this picture in your mind. The strength part will come from how much you believe in yourself, so that's something I can't help with. Any questions?" No one answered, most shook their heads. "Okay then. Begin."

**||A.S.A||**

By the end of the class, only Black Star, Kid, and Kilik had manged to short-circuit their devices, though it had taken a few tries and they were panting heavily. Kim and Harvar had come close, and the rest could hardly resist the electricity. Those had put their orcunds back in the box with disappointment, anger, and more than a little frustration. Black Star was boasting his accomplishment to Tsubaki, who humored him. Kilik felt pretty proud too. Azeris took up the shorted-out orcunds and put them beside the box. He said goodbye to students as they left and the next class came.

**||A.S.A||**

"That class was hard, wasn't it sis?" Patty said to her sister. She was walking beside Liz and both of them were following Kid down the hall.

Liz nodded. "Yeah. I could hardly hold onto the thing, let alone defend my soul. Those electric shocks hurt."

"Yeah, they were shocking!" Patty giggled at her joke. Liz smiled.

"Good one Patty," she said encouragingly. She looked at Kid, who hadn't said anything at all. "Hey Kid. Are you okay?"

"Of course," he replied without turning. "Is something the matter?"

"No. You just haven't been speaking much lately."

"There's nothing to worry about Liz."

Liz cast him a worried look, but consented. "Okay Kid. Whatever you say."

A few hours later Kid, Liz, and Patty were home in Gallows Mansion. Kid was sitting on the couch reading a book. Of course he sat in the middle so that it would be symmetrical. Liz was at the dining room table doing her nails, and Patty was busy fixing herself a sandwich on the counter, humming a happy tune. Otherwise it was quiet in the mansion.

_'A little too quiet,'_ Kid thought, closing his book softly. As a Shinigami, he could sense things that a normal human couldn't or wouldn't until later. It was like he was able to know that something was going to happen, and it couldn't be good, whatever it was. He glanced at the window. The sun was just beginning to set. From the way the mansion was built he could actually see the sun just disappearing over the horizon, casting an orange and red light over the darkening blue sky. The beautiful sight made him relax somewhat. If anything _was_ wrong, then it was probably something minor he could deal with later. And besides, his Father would probably already know if something was amiss in his city. It was his duty after all. So now in a reassured mood, Kid was about to turn around when something appeared on the edge of his vision. When he turned to see what it was, it was gone. If it was even there. He continued to look but found nothing out of the ordinary. As he looked, his shadow started growing large and longer.

Patty was busy munching on her sandwich while sitting next to her sister at the dining room table, when her gaze happened to drift over to where Kid was standing looking out the window. "Hmm?" She noticed Kid's shadow was starting to grow as if there was a light getting closer towards him, but the sun was only just beginning to fall asleep. It shouldn't be casting a shadow like that, should it? "Hey, Liz." She poked her sister in the arm. Liz was still doing her nails, completely focused on polishing them to perfection.

"Yeah Patty?"

"I think something's wrong with Kid's shadow."

"Huh?" Liz looked up and Kid turned around upon hearing his name. As they both saw the shadow at the same time it actually started to rise. The young Shinigami and his weapons couldn't believe their eyes as Kid's shadow broke off into medium-sized circular pieces. Before their eyes, the shadows, now broken off into five pieces, began to solidify and grow until they were about three feet tall. The shape the shadow took was vaguely human. An almost round head formed, followed by a pair of antennae that grew from it. Glowing yellow eyes came next, followed by arms with hands that only had three pointed fingers that resembled claws. Large pointed feet with no discernible toes formed last. The whole thing was completely black, except for its eyes. It had no mouth, nose, or ears that they could see.

"What the hell are those things?" Liz said with more than a little shock and fear.

"They look like little imps!" Patty exclaimed.

Kid didn't know what those things were, but he knew that they weren't supposed to exist. Before he could command his weapons to transform, the shadows all moved at once. They all jumped at the same time in different directions. One landed on the couch and started tearing it to pieces with it claws, while another landed on the wall and crawled along it like a spider. Two more began causing chaos in the kitchen, and the last went towards the Thompson sisters.

Liz shrieked and threw the nail polish at the black creature that had landed on the table. She grabbed Patty's arm to get away and saw the polish bottle go straight through the shadow thing as if it was air. The liquid spilled out on the table on the other side. Liz backed away with Patty, who still had a half-eaten sandwich in her hand.

"Liz! Patty! Snap out of it and transform!"

Kid's voice snapped them out of their fear and they jumped, transforming in mid-air and letting Kid catch them in his outstretched hands. He didn't wait or hesitate, but opened fire on the shadow-like creature. It leaped directly upwards to dodge. One bullet struck its leg and it evaporated into nothingness. It grabbed onto the chandelier and used its other foot to climb. Kid was about to shoot at it again when he was suddenly hit by a powerful blast of water. He was knocked onto his side, and when the water subsided, he was able to see that a shadow creature had turned the knobs of the sink and ripped off the facet so that water now sprayed out of the curved end. Now soaking wet, Kid aimed and fired at the shadow responsible. It was a direct hit, and it disintegrated without a sound. Now more irritated than hurt, Kid looked around to find the remaining three shadows. After seeing their other two comrades taken down, the other three shadows started wreaking even more havoc. Even the one without a foot brought the chandelier crashing down. In an attempt to save the furniture and bring the "battle" to a close, Kid took out the one without a foot and is companion. The last one standing made a break for the window, showing even more agility and speed than before so that Kid only managed to take out its arm. He thought the window was going to shatter when it hit, but it went directly through without leaving a mark. Kid ran to the window to try and spot it. Though the fight hadn't lasted long, the sun had gone down and the moon was only just beginning to rise. It was impossible to find the shadow creature in the darkness.

**_"Is it gone?" _**Liz asked.

"I think so," Kid replied. He stepped back from the window. "But whatever those things were, I'm not going to let them run around the city." He let Liz and Patty change out of their weapon form. The three of them looked around the room.

"Do you think those were kishin eggs?" Liz asked.

"I don't know. They didn't have souls, it looked like they were just made out of darkness." Liz walked over to the dining room table where the remainder of her nail polish was dripping onto the tiled floor.

"This cost me thirty bucks," she said glumly.

"I looks like they did more damage to the furniture than anything else," Kid replied. "We'll replace everything tomorrow."

"Hey Kid, where are you going?" Patty asked as he went to the front door.

"I can't wait to report this until tomorrow, it's too urgent. I'm going to my father to tell him what happened."

"Those things may still be out there Kid," Liz insisted, "maybe we should go with you."

"No. You two stay here. If there's only one of those things left I'll be fine on my own."

Liz wanted to protest further, but Kid was already on his way out the door. "Whatever you say Kid," she sighed. She turned to her sister. "Come on Patty, let's see if we can clean some of this up."

"Okay!" Liz followed her sister to get the cleaning supplies. As she got out some paper towels, Patty remarked, "I just realized Kid left without changing out of his clothes, so he's still gonna be wet."

"If Kid can deal with risking going out with those _things_ around, I'm sure he'll be fine in some wet clothes."

**||A.S.A||**

"Hey there Kiddo! What's up, how ya doin?" Lord Death greeted his son happily. "It's a little late for you to be here don't you think?"

"It's only a few minutes after nine, dad," Kid replied, feeling a little annoyed at being called by his pet name. The both of them were in the Death Room, but the scenery was still the same as ever, with the same blue sky and moving white clouds.

"Just make sure you don't stay up too late okay?" He tilted his head a bit. "What happened to your clothes Kid? You're all wet."

"I know that, it's what I came here to talk to you about." Kid retold everything that happened at the mansion and stared at his father with a serious expression. "What does this mean father? Were those things kishin eggs or something worse?"

His father shrugged. "I don't know Kid. You're the first person to report this, and I haven't seen anything like you've described around the city or elsewhere. Maybe it was just your imagination."

"Does _this _look like my imagination?" Kid gestured to his sodden clothes. Because it doesn't seem that way to me."

Lord Death put his hand on his chin in thought. "Yeah, yeah, you're right. This is really real."

"We have to do something about it father."

"Yes, we should. Tomorrow I'm going to tell the staff about what you told me. I'll tell them to keep a lookout for those creatures. However, until we find out exactly what they were and where they came from, it's best not to tell anyone else, including the other students and citizens."

"I understand," Kid agreed.

"There's a possibility a witch might be involved, but it could be anything. It's best to be cautious about this, okay Kid?"

"Yes. Goodnight father."

"Goodnight." Kid turned and made his way out of the Death Room, feeling a little beer at having told his father about what he'd seen. Now if the staff knew about those things, there would be a better chance of figuring out what those creatures were.

_'Whatever they are, something must be controlling them,' _Kid thought. _'And like father said, a witch is likely to blame for them being here.' _But there were questions such as why and how. And most importantly, who.

**||A.S.A||**

Sira stared intently at the rats and mice that scuttled about in their assorted cages. She was in a small pet-shop that she had decided to check out after walking around the city she was in. When she performed the teleportation spell at Medusa's house, she didn't state a specific place she wanted to go, so she had no idea where she was, but couldn't care less as long as she was somewhere other than the house. She would have gone with Medusa and Crona to Italy, but she had made some enemies there that she was sure would recognize her. And she didn't want to have to be by Crona any longer than she had to. Not after she had kissed him like that the day before. She still preferred not to think about it. So she decided that she should go out, and that's how she found herself contemplating whether or not to give into temptation and buy a few mice for lunch.

"Hey, are you going to buy one of those or what?" The clerk at the counter looked up from his newspaper, slightly annoyed at having to do his job. Sira shook her head.

"No thanks. I was just looking. Have a nice day." She smiled and walked out of the store and making the bell jingle on the door. She wanted to do something to the clerk for his attitude, like set his newspaper on fire or something similar. But she decided that she was going to take a break from casting spells for a day and just walk around the city for a bit.

It was actually a pleasant evening. The sun was beginning to set slowly but the sky had only slightly leaned towards a reddish-orange color. It was a little on the cool side, the sun wasn't too bright, and no one so much as looked at her the wrong way. The few looks from the men here and there didn't count. It made her feel smug that she still looked good anyway. There was even one man that stared at her continuously, and he seemed oddly familiar. He was talking on his cell phone and he seemed to be in a heated conversation. When they were close, he hung up and stepped in her path.

"Excuse me, sorry to bother you, but have I seen you somewhere?" he asked.

"I think we have, but where I have no idea." He studied her intently, and suddenly his eyes widened and he broke out into a happy grin.

"Sira! It's you! I can't believe I didn't recognize you in an instant!"

"Efforis? It can't be!"

"It is!" Laughing, he embraced her and twirled her around, attracting weird stares from onlookers, but neither of them cared. He set her down, still grinning. "Where have you been all these years? You haven't aged a day."

She raised an eyebrow. "Is that supposed to be a joke?"

"Well, you do look a little older. Almost twenty, right?"

"Almost. You look like you're already there."

He smiled proudly. "Twenty-two. It feels so good to be young."

"I bet."

"So have you seen Azeris anywhere? The last time I saw him was when he left us, and that was, what, thirty years ago? Give or take?" Sira nodded.

"I haven't seen him since. I had actually thought I would never see either of you ever again."

"Well, at least we have each other." He put an arm around her shoulders. "What's say you and me catch up from all these years over a bite to eat, huh?"

She smiled. "I think that would be nice." Minutes later, the two of them were sitting outside at a table for two, with snacks such as sandwiches, chips, cookies, and fries, along with a few bottles of water.

"I'll take care of the bill," Efforis said, smiling. "Like a gentleman would."

"Of course you will." Sira didn't wait and started chowing down on the fries and sandwiches first.

"I see you still have a big appetite."

"You're one to talk." He smirked and picked up his own sandwich. "So, what have you been doing these past years? Have you settled somewhere yet?"

"I wouldn't say 'settled'." She unscrewed a bottle of water and took a gulp. "I'm staying with a witch right now."

"A witch!?" He covered his mouth and looked around sheepishly. A few passersby glanced at them, and Sira gave him an annoyed look.

"Say it a bit louder why don't ya."

"Sorry. May I ask exactly _why_ you're staying with a witch?"

"You may."

"... Why are you staying with a witch?" Sira sighed and leaned back in her chair with a fry in her hand and looked upwards at the darkening sky.

"Her name is Medusa Gorgon. I made a deal with her about sixteen years ago."

"What was the deal?"

"It's a little difficult to explain. I'm not too sure if you'll understand what I have to say."

"I'll do my best." She leaned forward in her chair and twirled the fry around her fingers.

"I think Medusa sees everything, the earth as a whole, as an experiment, or a lab where she can do whatever she wants with anything and anybody. If you were around her as long as I've been, you'd understand in a heartbeat. But her goal right now is to change the world."

"Make it a better place?"

"Hardly. She wants to release the kishin." Efforis did a spit-take. Thankfully he turned his head away so that the water only sprayed along the ground. He wiped his mouth and looked at her in shock.

"Is she for real?"

Sira nodded, still looking up at the sky. "Yes. I think, I know, she's very serious."

"And you haven't killed the bitch? Excuse my language." She smiled, a little.

"I thought about doing that, in the beginning when I first met her. But I could tell that she was no ordinary witch. If I had fought her, it wouldn't have been easy. And at the time, I wasn't in good enough shape to fight her anyway, or else I would have, trust me. She said that she had purposely been seeking me out and that she wanted me to join her to help her release the kishin. Of course I said no, but she told me that even without my help, she would release it, sooner or later. And honestly, I think she's powerfully enough to do so. But I joined her because she promised that I would be exempt from the madness. You understand why I agreed, don't you?"

"Of course I do. I would have done the same thing. Well, I would have killed her first, but you see my point."

"Yeah..." Sira ate the fry she was playing with. "But she's been annoying me more and more lately. I'm thinking about killing her soon."

"Why not just run away and not risk getting injured?"

"If she lives she'll most certainly release the kishin."

"I think you should stay with her."

"What?" Sira looked at him in surprise. "Why?"

"There must be a reason why she picked you out of anybody else she could have chosen. Why you? Why not someone else? I mean, there aren't that many of _us_ around. So far, literally like three, and it's you, me, and Azeris. It must have taken her a while to find you among the billions of people in the world, because I'm sure it wasn't easy."

"What do I have that she wants?"

"I don't know. It could be that you're a Sentrus. Very powerful. Then again, there are other things that are strong too." He paused to take a bite of his sandwich, chew, and swallow. "But you did say she liked to experiment. Maybe she'll cut you open and take out all your organs. Or put something in. Ouch!" He yelped when she kicked him underneath the table, but chuckled afterwards. "It sounds crazy, I know. But you never know, people are unpredictable. Especially witches."

"She's _not_ cutting me open."

"Then why does she want _you_? Why does she need _your_ help?"

"...I don't know."

"Oh, don't worry. You'll find out soon enough."

"Do you know something about the situation?"

"No. Just trying to be mysterious."

"Well stop. You sound weird, and the food's getting cold." She grabbed a sandwich and began to eat. The two of them ate the rest of the food in silence, even drinking all of the water before the waiter came to take the bill. By that time the sun had completely gone down. The streetlights were on and the moon was up. You could still see the occasional car go by, and there were still people walking about. Efforis and Sira decided to continue their conversation while walking side by side down a random street, just going where they wanted.

"I know I should have asked this earlier, but do you happen to know where we are?"

"We're in Lancaster, Pennsylvania," Efforis replied with surprise. "How can you not know where you are?"

"I didn't think it mattered so much." Sira was looking at the different shops and buildings that they passed as they walked, but continued to talk to her friend. "So what's your story? How have you been?"

"Well, I've kind of been hopping from place to place, getting a job here and there, just living. About fifteen years ago though, I was working at a night club, and I met this woman named Kami Albarn. She gave me her number, and, you know, we've been together ever since."

"You married her?"

"No! No, no!" He laughed. "We started dating in the beginning, but it didn't work out anyway because she was pregnant and was getting married soon. When she did so, the both of us just became really close friends. But as of late, things have been getting bad between her and Spirit, so she's divorced him."

"Huh, and I wonder why she's done that."

"What do you mean?"

"She divorced him because she wants to be with you. Marriage is a big thing for humans, so when the wife or husband wants a divorce, it has to be because they want to be with someone else. What a typical love story."

"She doesn't want to be with me, I know Kami better than that. Spirit has just been cheating on her, that's all. In fact, that was what we were talking about on the phone earlier today."

"What about the child?"

"Her name is Maka, and she lives in Death City, Nevada with her father. I don't know that much about her except for the information Kami's given me. She's fifteen-years old, is very smart, and an excellent scythe meister. Not like her dad at all."

"Have you told Kami you're a Sentrus? If you haven't, you're going to have to tell her sooner or later."

He sighed, "Yeah, I told her. It was about three to five years after we met each other and she noticed I wasn't aging as fast. We were good friends, so I thought she would be able to take it, or at least accept it. When I told her, she didn't handle it very well. When I showed her my true form, she freaked out and didn't talk to me for about a month. After that though, things basically went back to normal."

"Well, it sounds like you're doing better than I am. I'm stuck with Medusa, either until she reveals what she has in store for me, or I decide to do something about it first. Truth is, I don't know which one will come first."

"Maybe it's best to wait and see."

"What exactly will I have to see."

"I have no idea, but it's from a witch, so it's sure to be exciting."

"Can we stop talking about this now?" She pointed at an Arts and Crafts shop on the other side of the street. "I want to go in there."

"But you can't draw."

"Can't I just look around?"

"Yeah, but... what about you? Won't Medusa be upset if you stay out late?"

Her irritation was growing and she looked at him. "I don't have a curfew, I can stay here for weeks if I want to."

Efforis smiled, "How about just for this night?"

"As long as you pay."


End file.
